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Fentress Co Historical Society Museum \ Bruno Gernt Office

Fentress Co Historical Society Museum \ Bruno Gernt Office

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Oct 25, 2013 16:16

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Allardt, TN - Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, today serving as the Local Historical Society. In the late 1800s, Gernt and M. H. Allardt founded a community of immigrant Germans in the Upper Cumberland Plateau at about the same time the British were settling nearby (and today the much more famous) Rugby. German land agent Bruno Gernt envisioned a self-sufficient city here. Gernt sold 9,000 acres owned by the Clarke family of Nebraska in parcels of 25,50, and 200 acres at $4 per acre to farmers, miners, and lumbermen. The town was laid out geometrically and named for Gernt's partner, M. H. Allardt, who died before settlement began. Gernt recruited skilled craftsmen, professionals, and experienced farmers from Germany, and soon Allardt led the region in production of hay, fruits, and vegetables. For more than 50 years, Gernt never ceased his efforts to have the town of Allardt be all he dreamed it could be, and the community prospered for a time. Today, more than a dozen buildings make up the Allardt Historic District.